“Not Quite…” By Ruixue

A quote “Where I’m from everyone’s a hero” is becoming more and more hailed — after tragedies that shook the country. And such tragedies always bring the best in people or a race. We learn to extend a hand, we make sacrifices, or just simply find ways to help others survive the day.

The quote is really inspiring and it’s what my country needs. The thing is, I can’t fully embrace this idea because we have been sunk for a long time — long before Ondoy’s wrath. And what good is a hero, if one cannot save himself or herself?

I think we, as a nation, still have this romantic idea of heroism. One has to die. One has to win a battle (or a boxing tournament and singing contest). One has to leave the country and endure being alone in a foreign land. One has to be recognized by the entire world. One has to be kidnapped. And other things that would seamlessly fit the plot of Kill Bill 3.

To cut to the chase, I’d rather hear these quotes from my country in the near future:

- Where I’m from, everyone knows how to fall in line.

- Where I’m from, everyone knows how to clean their mess.

- Where I’m from, everyone knows how to lead and follow.

- Where I’m from, everyone knows how to respect each other.

- Where I’m from, everyone knows how to truly speak and listen.

I’d rather have an entire generation of these people than a handful of dead heroes dying in vain.

This is a generalization that probably isn’t important (anymore), but it was a question that was brought up to me last month by two people who weren’t Filipino-American. I had a tough time answering them, but I tried to anyway.

One of them is a very close friend of mine who is Chinese-American. We started talking about Asians in America and how we as a minority group in America are struggling with the negative stereotypes that confront us. And then we started to talk about our differences under the umbrella of “Asian-Americans.” Which is when she asked me about her observation that Filipinos dress predominantly more “urban” or “hip-hop” than other Asian-Americans, which I also believed to be true.

Ironically, at that time I had started reading a book called “Filipino-American Psychology” so I merely regurgitated what I learned from the book.

In it, the author gives statistics on Filipino-Americans in comparison to our fellow Asian-American counterparts. Among the many, i’d like to point out a few that resonated with me:

1) Filipino-American households on average have lower incomes than other Asian-American households.

2) Filipino-American youth have higher high school drop-out rates than other Asian-American households.

3) Filipino-Americans are more susceptible to stroke, diabetes, and heart disease than other Asian-Americans.

So I told her that, given this data, I can only assume that because hip-hop at the time of my generation’s upbringing was sending messages of poor neighborhoods, teen pregnancies, drugs, and gangs, Filipino-Americans who were going through these same situations felt welcomed by the art. I also told her that I didn’t have many Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Indian friends at that time, and that although society was telling me I was “Asian,” I didn’t feel like it because I felt I had more in common with Mexican and African American youth. I know there is more to it than that, but it is a domino effect that is probably more complicated than i’d like to dig in to. I should though, I know.

The second and final person who posed this question to me was an African-American studying “Filipinos and hip-hop” for a school project. She made the observation that Filipinos in particular have become integral parts of hip-hop today. From the Black Eyed Peas, America’s Best Dance Crew, and DJ Qbert probably being the most iconic of Filipino Hip-Hop in American society.

I believe this stems from that crucial era of hip-hop in the 90’s when “gangster rap” had emerged from both coasts of the United States, coasts where most Filipino-American youth resided in, even to this very day. And then piggy backing on what I noted earlier, the statistics that bring Filipino-Americans closer to their Latino and African American counterparts than our Asian-American ones.

Looking back at my life, all the rap music I appreciated, and all the clothes I wore that depicted my love for rap, I realized 2 things:

1) That like most people, in the midst of trying to “fit in”, I also felt welcomed by hip-hop.

2) Who you are and what you believe defines you at any given moment in your life is dependent on what people see when they look at you, what you see in yourself, and lastly, how deep you want to dig in order to find out who you really are.

So who am I today? Im a Filipino-American blogger whose style is rooted in hip-hop. But tonight, i’ll be rockin it out watching Parokya ni Edgar, Kamikaze, and Gloc-9 blast their music in Tagalog.

So who will I be tomorrow?

The answer to that question is and always will be, up to me.

My girlfriend, Angel Locsin, is nominated for an international Emmy award for best performance by an actress. I knew she could do it, I keep telling her all time, geeze, but she never listens.

Anyway, you go girl! I mean, yeah, honey go get ‘em.

(Photos from our album her website)

That’s one good, good-looking couple.

(Cory addition by PL&R)

By Dennis Villegas

“It makes for a fascinating sight - but yet something that is deeply disturbing.

Some of the boys are aged ten to seventeen and they admit ingesting the dirty waters every time they dive. I found some of them are already coughing blood–which may already be a sign of tuberculosis or even lead poisoning. And again no amount of health warnings can prevent these boys from enjoying the only game they can afford. Each of them take turns diving from the dizzying height amidst their peers’ shouting, clapping, laughing, and coughing.”

From Dennis Villegas’ “The Diving Boys of Quezon Bridge.”

Agoncillo starts his book “History of the Filipino People” saying Filipinos are not “nationalistic”.

Does this mean only Marcos, the Spanish, and Typhoon Ondoy can unite the Philippines?

It doesn’t help that the country is divided by borders of seas, but it does help when Philippine youth scream out “Pinoy Ako Pinoy Tayo” at a concert, or when a Muslim from Zamboanga builds a library for children regardless of religion.

So unity, in some form, occurs in between the events that rattle this nation. And everytime the nation is rattled, whether its because of a typhoon, or a corrupt president, it further pushes forward the need for a sense of nationalism.

Bisdak/Astig!

by Stefan Suarez

So we fed a few people. Now what?

It’s Day 6 and Facebook, Twitter, TV, the papers- everything’s still Flooded with news about the Flood (though a little less than before). I even have some friends getting angry when their other friends post “useless” stuff- you know- the kind of stuff we’d normally post if there wasn’t an emergency or disaster.

But here’s reality… a few days or weeks from now, things will not-so-slowly start to look normal again. At least for us. Facebook will have less stuff about emergency relief, and more of those quizzes, and games, and scores, and invitations to gigs and parties and whatnot. In a few days, Ondoy will no longer be “the news”. When Ondoy gets old, it will be forgotten. It will be just another problem that we’ve learned to live with.

The truth of the matter is this- 95% of the people whom we are helping now- they needed our help BEFORE the typhoon. They were hit hardest because they’re the ones who live in shanties, they’re the ones without medical access, they’re the ones with no jobs and no money, and a lot of them didn’t have water even before the flood. Heck a lot of them needed food before Ondoy. And they existed, while we existed, side by side. We never bothered to help them. And when Ondoy gets old- when it moves from “front and center” to the sidelines of our attention and life goes back to “normal”, these people will still need our help.

They needed our attention BEFORE the typhoon. They will need our attention AFTER the typhoon.

If anything the typhoon opened our eyes to the REAL situation our countrymen were in. This post is just my way of asking everybody to be around for them PERMANENTLY. The great thing about Ondoy is that with everybody helping, we have some sort of momentum going. And when we move from Red Alert to whatever color normal living is, we can still keep that momentum going and never stop helping, and sharing, and giving.

What does it take for these people to live better? When the flood goes down, many will need homes again. Then they’ll need jobs. Then they’ll need infrastructure built in their towns. Reliable water supply. Transportation. Schools should be rebuilt. Education should be made accessible. Crime should be controlled. Guys these are OLD problems. We can’t just be heroes when it comes to NEW problems. All old problems were once new, and they stayed there because somewhere along the way, we forgot how to follow through. I remember watching a movie called “Charlie Wilson’s War” which was all about the time when the US helped Afghanistan defend itself against Russia back in the day. The movie ended with a strong quote:

“These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world… and then we f——d up the endgame.”

Guys, let’s not screw up the end game. If we’re here to help, let’s make sure we follow through. This is where I shut up and let you guys do the talking. Use the comment box below to share your ideas and thoughts on the matter. Before I do shut up let me leave you with one last thought- I truly believe that we have everything it takes to make all the changes we say we want in this country. There’s no resource, talent, skill, or connection that is unavailable to us. The question is this- will we make it available to them?

-Stefan Suarez

“This man lost his mother, his wife, and 5 children including a 2 week old infant who is in the same coffin as the mother.”

(via Chuvaness : drquimbo’s flickr)